Sourav Ganguly Not Surprised By Record Viewership Of IPL 2020

The 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) is being played without crowds or the usual glamour due to coronavirus pandemic but the cricket fever has skyrocketed among the fans ever since the showpiece event marked the resumption of cricket for Indians fans. The opening match of the IPL between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings broke viewership records as 20 crore people tuned in to watch the match. Sourav Ganguly, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) too was left impressed with craze and viewership records that have been broken.

The former Indian skipper said he wasn't surprised by the love IPL has received and added that the apex body of cricket in the country wanted to bring normalcy in everyone's lives with cricket.

"Unbelievable, and I am not surprised at all. When we were discussing with Star (official broadcasters of the Dream11 IPL 2020) and all the people concerned - if we have to do it this year and one month prior to the tournament, we were contemplating, whether this can happen or not, what will be the ultimate result of the bio-bubble and will it be successful," Ganguly said on Star Sports' show, Cricket Live.

"We decided to move ahead with our plan because we wanted to bring normalcy in everyone's lives and wanted to bring the game back. I am not surprised with the feedback," he added.

Ganguly cited the example of double super over in a single game and said that the IPL is the best tournament in the world.

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) defeated Mumbai Indians after the end of two back-to-back Super Overs at Dubai International Stadium on October 18. Interestingly, the first game of the double-header on that Sunday too was decided after a Super Over. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a thrilling Super Over clash at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

"This is the best tournament in the world. There have been so many super overs, we recently witnessed a double super over, we saw Shikhar Dhawan's batting, we saw Rohit Sharma, we saw all the young players and we witnessed the comeback of KL Rahul's KXIP from the bottom of the table," said Ganguly.

"You will get everything here! I can bet you that the IPL has been a smashing success this year, in terms of the ratings, the number of people who have watched the game," he added.

"Also, I just shot for the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) promo and the tagline is, 'Cricket khatam hoga, lekin khel nahi! Hero ISL jald aa raha hai, aur game jaari rahega Hero ISL ke saath'. And hopefully it will be a cracker of a season again," Ganguly signed off.